In this series we’ll take a fresh look at resources and how they are used. We’ll go beyond natural resources like air and water to look at how efficiency in raw materials can boost the bottom line and help the environment. We’ll also examine the circular economy and design for reuse — with an eye toward honoring those resources we do have.

While changes at home can’t solve the many environmental crises we face today, they can sure help. Through this series, we’ll explore how initiatives like curbside compost pick-up, rebates on compost bins, and efficient appliances can help families reduce their impact without breaking the bank.

Despite decades -- centuries even -- of global efforts, slavery can still be found not just on the high seas, but around the world and throughout various supply chains. Through this series on forced labor, sponsored by C&A Foundation, we’ll explore many different types of bonded and forced labor and highlight industries where this practice is alive and well today.

In this series we examine how companies should respond to national controversy like police violence and the BLM movement to best support employees and how can companies work to improve equality by increasing diversity in their ranks directly.

Compost is often considered a panacea for the United States’ tremendous food waste problem. Indeed, composting is a much better option than putting spoiled food in a garbage can destined for a landfill.

T. Boone Pickens, one-time oil tycoon, has realized that the movement toward clean technology and sustainable business practices holds more than financial promise. The Texan says he has discovered a new appreciation for wind and other alternative energy sources – an appreciation that goes well beyond his conviction that he’ll make Prius-loads of money by promoting the Pickens Plan to establishing massive energy systems independent of foreign oil.
In addition to solar panels and wind turbine, he is using a small generator mounted on a stationary bicycle to power his off-the-grid Texas home. As part of his daily exercise routine, Pickens spins away on the bike each morning, powering up his orange juicer enough to fill two glasses of OJ – one for him and one for his fourth wife Madeleine Pickens.

Though his calendar is packed with meetings and speaking engagements, Pickens has also decided to block out a few weeks this summer in order to pursue his newfound interest in backpacking. Over the next few years, he hopes to hike (in increments, of course) either the Appalachian or Pacific Crest Trail.
On a recent trip to San Francisco to drum up support for his alternative energy plan, Pickens spent an afternoon at a local Yoga center. Afterward, he commented that in addition to his conventional lobbying efforts to push forward the creation of transmission lines needed to link his wind turbines to the electrical grid, he is now also trying to use meditation and creative visualization tools to influence smart grid development.
If the smart grid fails to materialize, Pickens stands to lose a great deal of money – much more, in fact, than the $2 billion he lost in 2008. And if that happens? “No worries,” he says. “There are plenty of volunteering opportunities, and I could always become a community organizer.”

Freelance writer Mary Catherine O'Connor finds that a growing number of companies are proving the ways that they can make good financially, socially and environmentally (as the triple bottom line theory suggests).
With that in mind, she contributes to Triple Pundit, as well as to Earth2Tech and other pubs focused on sustainability. She also writes The Good Route, an Outside Magazine blog that addresses the intersection of sustainability and the active/outdoor life.
To find out more, or to reach her, go to www.mcoconnor.com.